Ken Blaze, USA TODAY SPORTS
Cleveland Frowns: Knicks Crushed By Cavs As Series Evens Up in Game 2
Looking to celebrate the hardwood holidays in style, the Cleveland Cavaliers broke out the Garland on Tuesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
After his respectable NBA postseason debut was overshadowed by futile Donovan Mitchell mastery, Darius Garland shined through a sloppy yet lucrative Game 2 against the New York Knicks, a game that saw the hosting Cavaliers tie the series with a 107-90 win. Garland tallied a game-best 32 points as the Cavs rolled to victory, their first postseason triumph without the services of LeBron James since their lone triumph in 1998's opening round against Indiana.
Julius Randle led the Knicks with 22 points while Jalen Brunson was just behind him with 20, though the latter struggled to the tune of 5-of-17 shooting from the field.
Seeking a 2-0 series lead, the Knicks jumped out to an early eight-point advantage in the game's opening minutes but things went downhill fairly quickly. Cleveland outscored the Knicks 21-10 over the final seven minutes to create a three-point lead at the end of the first period, setting the foundation for a complete takeover in the second.
As both teams waged a physical war to the tune of shooting percentages that both dipped under 40, Cleveland got to break away due to the efforts of Garland. The fourth-year man put in 26 points in the first half alone, stifling the Knicks' will from both the inside (10-of-11 from the foul line) and out (4-of-6 from three-point range). Garland's Tuesday antics proved even his shortcomings were highlights, as they included a showstopping dunk attempt over New York big man Isaiah Hartenstein.
In more positive history for the Cavs, Garland flirted with Cleveland history set by James: his first half point tally was three points short of a team playoff record set by the current Los Angeles Laker, a 2018 effort that ironically also came during the second game of the opening round.
On the other end, Cleveland's renowned defense, matched by a shutdown effort from the Knicks on Saturday, limited the Knicks to 39 points over the first 24 as they built a 20-point lead.
Garland had nearly half of his points (15) in the second quarter alone, a 12-minute stretch that saw him almost match the Knicks' measly 17-point effort.
The latter stages were mostly about window dressing: the final margin of 17 was as close as the Knicks got the rest of the way (save for a brief 16-point deficit in the third) and that was perhaps only because Cleveland held their headliners out of the rest of the latter half of the fourth quarter. Tuesday's hosts led by as much as 29 in the second half. While Mitchell was held to only 17 points after his Cavs postseason debut featured 38, he dished out 13 assists while the Knicks only distributed five (all but five coming from the hands of Brunson and Hartenstein).
Other role reversals were present in both the rebounding and bench scoring battles: headlined by a combined 23 more from interior duo Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, the Cavs won the rebounding battle by seven after losing by 14 in Game 1. Caris LeVert almost outscored the Knicks' bench entirely (28, paced by a dozen from Immanuel Quickley) with 24 in the win, helping to even the series after Cleveland's reserves mustered only 14 on Saturday.
With the series tied at one apiece, it's now Madison Square Garden's turn to host over the weekend. Game 3 will be staged on Friday night in Manhattan (8:30 p.m. ET, MSG/ABC). New York won both regular season meetings at MSG this season, the most recent coming on Jan. 24.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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